The present invention relates to a manual crank assembly for winches, especially rack and pinion jacks of a lifting and depositing device for portable box-like articles, e.g. large containers, wherein the rack and pinion jacks may be connected to the corners of a large container, its spur racks provided on uprights for the large container, so that the rack and pinion jacks can be raised and lowered along each upright by operation of corresponding manual cranks. "Portable box-like articles" is to understood in the broadest meaning of the term, to include any articles, including platforms and pallets, which allow fastening of the winch to its corners or outside edges. "Large container" as used herein is therefore only a generic term.
A lifting and depositing device for the above purposes, of which the rack and pinion jacks can be operated by manual cranks, is already known from German Utility Pat. No. 82 35 609. Using this lifting and depositing device, large containers can be raised from the loading surface of a truck and placed on the ground or, vice versa, raised from the ground and deposited on the loading surface. Since height differences of generally 1.70-1.80 m. are to be covered with this lifting and depositing process, operation of the manual crank is difficult in the vicinity of both end positions of the rack and pinion jacks. In the bottom end position, complete turning of the manual crank is often no longer possible, since the handle contacts the ground. In order to provide some relief here, the manual crank has been provided with a ratchet mechanism, which allows only a portion of a complete crank turn. This too means a waste of time in the handling of the relevant large container. On the other hand, in the top end position of the rack and pinion jack, the rotation of the manual crank then becomes cumbersome.